Interview with Tomonster!

The month of March should always be called "March Monsters" and to celebrate that new fact we have Tomonster aka Tomoko. Here's an interview with her on her upcoming solo show at Schmancy from March 13-April 8, 2010.

Schmancy: How long have you been painting?
Tomoko: I've been drawing all my life. I always love drawing and painting. I started painting seriously about 6 or 7 years ago. I was painting for fun and people like them! So I was like "WOW! Really? That's awesome!!"

Schmancy: That always seems like the best way to start! You create so many interesting characters, where do you get your inspirations for them?
Tomoko: Most of them are from all the cartoon I watched when I was little. I'm from Japan originally, so I watched lots of Japanese cartoons. Also they played lots of European cartoons also like Barba papa and Mooming Troll, etc... I just love creepy but cute and funny monsters! They just make me smile!

Schmancy: We like the monsters too! So, where is your most favorite place to travel, and why?
Tomoko: I've been to some places, but my favorite place was Morocco. I think it's so foreign to me and everything I saw was amazing and very very foreign. It was so much fun! Also Barcelona, Spain was amazing. They are so much art and they have great food!

Schmancy: Yum! My mouth is watering...so what is your favorite food?
Tomoko: I love any kind of food!!!! I love eating!!! haha. But in the end, I always go back to Japanese food. :)


Schmancy: Tradition is hard to break!! Since its 'March Monster Month' and I guess there's also another holiday...do you celebrate St. Patricks Day with green beer?
Tomoko: Well, I don't have any Irish blood in me and I don't drink, so uh, no.... but I'm all for Green drinks and green food! I didn't even know about St. Patricks day till I came to Seattle!

Schmancy: Well we hope some of the Irish luck will rub off on all of us! Do you have any upcoming shows or exciting news you would like to share with us?
Tomoko: My new cards from new paintings are printing process right now! Also I will have a gallery showing with other artists in May, June, July at Oasis Gallery in Wallingford! Also in August, I have a solo show at Portage Bay in Fremont!


Schmancy: Wow! That's great! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us...All of you loyal (and new) Tomonster fans please stop by Schmancy between March 13-April 8 to see her amazing work and really funny characters. Until next time...xo

Interview with Vivienne and Matte

The upcoming February 12 art opening at Schmancy is featuring Vivienne Strauss and Matte Stephens in the show "Opposites Attract" (perfect for the month of love). Anywho, I've interviewed the couple to get the latest scoop just for you!

Schmancy (S): Where is your most favorite place to get inspiration? Do you remember the first time you went there thinking this place could change your life?
Vivienne (V): I guess I would have to say my mind rather than an actual physical place. I get a lot of my inspiration from old college annuals from the 1920s and 1930s. Just an interesting looking face or an odd sounding name can inspire an idea or a whole story that leads to a painting.
Matte (M): At home I love changing our place around to make it more inspiring.

S: What is your favorite movie and/or book? - AND what would be the "new" ending you would add to it if the ending could change?
V: I have so many favorites it is hard to pick just one. One of my favorite movies of all time is Harold and Maude, I would say I'd prefer that Maude not die at the end but I wouldn't change it because it wouldn't have nearly the impact it does now. Happy endings are not necessarily the best endings to a good story.
M: I like so many movies it would be hard to name just one.

S: Give us a preview of your Schmancy show!! We can't wait to see it, so describe some of it to us now!!
V: The painting I've done for the Schmancy show is titled Frank and Florence spend every Sunday in bed reading their favorite books. This idea has been floating around in my head for quite some time and it felt great to finally execute it.
M: A wool felted Uncle Rutherford.

S: What is the song/artist you keep playing over and over in your iPod (or cd player?)
V: Lately it has been Andrew Bird.
M: I have my radio tuned to the same NPR station all of the time :)

S: If you could open a restaurant what food would you serve and why?
V: Probably one that had a huge selection of different soups, salads and sandwiches so I could eat there and not have to cook.
M: I would serve southern food and the name of the restaurant would be cloresteral.

S: Do you have any exciting news/events to share for 20-10?!
V: I have one thing in particular I'm very excited about but it isn't final so I'm afraid of jinxing it by saying something too soon
M: I'm working on lots and Lots and lots of paintings

S: Everything upcoming sounds terribly exciting and let's hope it works out for both of you, everyone please come join us for beer and wine on February 12, 2010 to celebrate the opening of “Opposites Attract” with Vivienne and Matte (and the Schmancy crew!)

Huck Gee is coming!

Hey Joe (Vollan) whadda ya know??

Hey Schmancy Fans!! Joe Vollan will be having a solo show in the store from January 8 - February 11!! Don't forget to stop by during the month to check out his work. *There will NOT be an opening on the 8th, and the store will just be open regular hours (11-6)* But drumroll please!! Huck Gee will be honoring Schmancy with his presence on January 22, 2010 from 6-8pm for a signing session. More to follow!



On with the interview....

S: Joe, will you be making any new year's resolutions?
JV: Today one of my co-workers said that being nicer should be my resolution, so I'm going to give that a shot.

S: How did you come up with the new show, that will be at Schmancy this month?
JV: My wife bought me a bunch of really nice looking frames, so I got wood panels to fit them. so all the paintings are smaller then usual for this show.

S: What is your favorite underwater animal?
JV: I would have to say definitely a squid.

S: You live in Seattle and seem very inspired by the city. Do you have a favorite place to sketch or come up with ideas?
JV: Seattle is a very inspirational and beautiful city, I like to walk around downtown a lot, also gasworks park makes me happy.

S: Any upcoming events or updates we should know about?
JV: My website (joevollan.com) should be up and running, hopefully within a month. Im very excited about that.

S: Thanks for talking with us Joe, and we look forward to seeing your work!

Interview with M.O.F.O. Aka Martin and Felix!

Hey Everybody!! I know we are all excited about Urban Craft Uprising this weekend…but I wanted to wet your whistle for the upcoming Schmancy show on December 11, 2009 Featuring Martin + Felix Ontiveros, a solo show of dad and son aka “M.O.F.O.”(see below)! Come to the Opening from 6-9pm on the 11th!


S: How did you come up with the concept and name of your show?

M.O. (Martin): Our show is called "M.O.F.O." (Martin Ontiveros, Felix Ontiveros). I originally titled us "Team Ontiveros", but then one day we were walking back from school and the acronym hit me... and I was like, "DUH. Why hadn't that occurred to me before??" It's cool because it's similar to other comic team's logos, like S.H.I.E.L.D. for instance. And it's a dirty joke, but Felix doesn't know that... The show concept is pretty simple, it's just about our love of superheroes--specifically Marvel this time around. I was booked to do this show by myself initially, but then thought I'd bring Felix in on it too. He's pretty obsessed with this stuff (in no small part due to my influence of course), churning out comic after comic of his own, and bombarding me with questions about heroes (I have since purchased both the Marvel and DC encyclopedias to relieve me of this duty)... so I figured this could be a good way to channel this obsession. It turned into a great thing to do on our days together over the summer, especially the papier mache sculptures!

F.O. (Felix): I like superheroes, and thought we should do Marvel superheroes first.

S: Wow that is pretty awesome and I love the acronym! So, do you have craft hour/night?

M.O.: Pretty much anytime we feel like it, never a set time really. We do it more than we watch TV, actually.

F.O.: We do it anytime we want to.



S: That’s a really great way to spend time together. So what's your favorite old and new cartoon?

M.O.: Man, that would be several for me. Old: Battle of the Planets. New: Batman-The Brave and the Bold

F.O.: My favorite old cartoon is Ben 10. My favorite new cartoon is Batman-The Brave and the Bold.

S: Seems like great cartoonists think alike! Where do you get your inspirations?

M.O.: For me it's all the cartoons, movies and comics I ingested as a kid, and rock n' roll. Music is a huge part of it. Felix too-- seeing him develop as an artist and storyteller is really something... like the Juggernaut, he's unstoppable!

F.O.: It's something to do while you're bored.

S: Well Felix, I hope you get bored a lot! What's your favorite holiday tradition?

M.O.: Can't say we're very traditional... but the last few years I've had a little silver electronic tree that I pull out of the closet and switch on. If Felix gets a big Lego set for Christmas (and he usually does), we'll hang out and build it together, listen to tunes and eat.

F.O.: Get presents!

S: Sounds like a good time, I think everyone loves presents, especially lego sets! I know I do! Do you have any new projects coming up that you'd like to share?

M.O.: As a team, we're going to continue to make papier mache sculptures of superheroes. Maybe make another zine or two. We're booked to do a show here in Portland next Fall too (at Black Wagon), which will be DC comics themed.

F.O.: The DC comics show I guess.

S: Good to share the wealth with DC and Marvel I suppose…What's a perfect dinner together?

M.O.: Cheap sushi night downtown, probably!

F.O.: Sushi at Sushi Ichiban downtown, the one with the train. It used to be called Sushi Takahashi, but they changed the name. Everybody still calls it Sushi Takahashi though.

S: Any last words for the world to know?

M.O.: Uhhh... I turn 40 years old the day after our opening.

F.O.: I'm good.

S: Looks like we will have another great show on our hands at Schmancy in just a week and a half!! See you at the opening!! xo

Made by Moxie toy EXCLUSIVE

I think Moxie makes the most awesome, clever, funny amazing felted toys this side of the Mississippi. Don't you? She has made these adorable squeakers for a Schmancy exclusive. Something I would like to add she doesn't do much of anymore...so get 'em while they are hot! They will be up tomorrow!



S- What was your inspiration behind these fantastic creatures for your plush exclusive?

MBM- Because it's an exclusive, I wanted to make something fun and personable... something that would "speak" to the people. Replace "speak" with "squeak" and you pretty much have it.



S- How has your work evolved from the beginning of creating magical felted monsters?

MBM- While I love making squeakers and finger puppets, I've become driven to creating conceptual pieces. A lot of times my work might be anthropomorphic, but if you look beyond the cuteness, you'll find layers of meaning.



S- Where do you see your monsters in 10 years?

MBM- Ruling the night.



S- What are you most excited for in the next few months?

MBM- I'm excited to be a part of the 5th Annual Urban Craft Uprising show in Seattle. I'm also working on an instructional needle felting book due out in 2010. The next few months will be full of felting, writing and possibilities.

Introducing... Le Merde!

I interviewed the awesome dudes (John Black and Mike Kelley) from Le Merde who will be having a solo show on Friday November 13 from 6-9 at none other than Schmancy!

S: What inspires you to create such awesome characters?

JB - Well.. most of my characters are based on people I went to High School with. Growing up in the 70's and 80's I was left with tons of images of interesting people. I'm inspired by these stoners, geeks and general freaks. From these images and memories I recreate these people into my own universe.

LM - Usually I start with a thought or characteristic of someone and go from there. My Hollis Price character started with being slightly obsessed with Thin Lizzy and John McEnroe. Then added a little Ted Nugent and there he was. But other times it's just doodling and what comes out comes out.

S: Have you been traveling lately? If so where and what was the coolest thing you did?

JB - I recently went to Vegas and saw Pete Rose. Topper for sure.

LM - I just got back from LA and got to hang with David Horvath of Ugly Dolls there. He drove my ass everywhere. David is a top notch dude. Very generous. I also got to shake hands with George Takei.

S: Those are some pretty warm places, hope you can handle the rain in Seattle! So, what was your favorite toy (and/or) cartoon growing up and why?

JB - I collected a lot of He-Man and Transformers until I got my first skateboard and then after that it was all hanging with the dudes. But yeah I still got all my He-Man and Transformers.

LM - I collected the normal stuff like Star Wars and G.I.Joe. But my first gotta have items as a kid was Atari and every system after that. Atari, 5200, 7800 and then Nintendo. Those are the memories I still think about. Staying up all night and playing the first Zelda. That was the best. Most of my toy memories are finding the mark downed toys at the Drug Store down the street. Tons of M.U.S.C.L.E and Imagic Atari games and 3rd party games. These marked down games were .99 cents sometimes in 1982-83. Sweet!

S: I think everyone loves 80’s cartoons! Does Friday the 13th freak you out?? Do you have any superstitious tendencies?

JB - No I'm stoked.

LM - ....no. It's more exciting then a freak out.

S: To wrap up, what upcoming projects/shows are you especially excited about (besides the solo show at Schmancy on Friday Nov 13 of course) ?

JB - I'm in the upcoming Post-It Note show at Giant Robot in Dec. Should be killer.

LM - I'm totally digging the new season of Sons of Anarchy. Shit is good. Also Top Chef is really good this season. Project Runway is pretty pretty lame. Go back to Bravo you jerks!

S: Thanks guys!! Can’t wait to see your show “Terry and Vince Go... Way....Way” at Schmancy on November 13!!